Warwickshire Golf
UNDER 16 BOYS v STAFFORDSHIRE
Match Report
Staffordshire U16 v Warwickshire U16
7thJuly 2019
Penn Golf Club
Team
Alex Ford – Robin Hood (Captain)
Seb Cave – The Belfry
Oliver Clark – The Warwickshire
Charlie Lamb – Coventry Hearsall
Lucas Laurie – Robin Hood
Joe McInnes – Robin Hood
Niall Collins – Robin Hood
Finlay Stokes - Atherstone
Liam Scagell – Ladbrooke Park
Tom Poole – Coventry Hearsall
The hosts for the U16s first league match of the season against Staffordshire were Penn Golf Club. The boys arrived full of confidence after the win against Leicestershire to a warm welcome and a course in superb condition.
The Captain Alex Ford and Seb Cave led the way again and soon found themselves 4 down to the Staffs pairing. However Alex and Seb are now experienced match players and the back nine was a different story. They put together a run of three birdies to help turn the score around and finally won on the 17th2&1.
In the second match Charlie Lamb and Ollie Clark formed a new pairing. This turned out to be a close match with both teams taking the lead at various points. They arrived at the 18thall square having been 1 down after 16. Both teams hit good drives but Charlie was able to find the back of the green whilst Staffs found the front bunker. Ollie produced a good chip and a par putt from Charlie secured the point.
Lucas Laurie and Niall Collins played match 3 for the second match in succession. Playing some very good foursomes golf they took control early on and never looked back running out 5&3 winners.
Match four saw Joe McInnes and Fin Stokes who had a fine debut against Leicestershire play together in foursomes for the first time. The boys had a tough start and went 4 down through 8 holes. However both boys dug in and to their credit produced a mini fight back. However the deficit proved to be too great and they lost 2&1.
Liam Scagell returned to the team and played with Tom Poole in the final foursomes match. This was another close game that saw the Warks pair down early on. The match was always close but Liam and Tom gave the team a great finish to the morning winning 1up.
Foursomes Warwickshire 4 Staffordshire 1
Although the boys needed just 4 points to secure a win they knew it would be a tough task and they were not wrong.
Alex led the way but soon fell behind in his match against the Staffs Captain. He was still down at the turn and despite putting up a valiant effort he lost 4&2.
Match two was a different story with Seb taking an early lead with two quick birdies. He remained in control throughout the whole match playing some excellent golf and won 5&4 securing the first of the four points needed.
Ollie Clark was next on the tee and was involved in a close tussle through the first 9 holes before taking a 3 up lead. However the Staffs player put up a brave fight getting back to just one down before Ollie secured the win on the 17th2&1.
This was a great win as the matches behind him were not all going to plan with Warwickshire down in 4 of the next 7 matches.
Charlie Lamb was in a battle with both he and his partner playing well. The match ebbed and flowed with neither boys able to establish control. They can to the last all square and two good pars saw the match halved.
Lucas Laurie in the next match was in control early. Lucas has been in good form and it showed. He played some super gold and won 3&2.
Matches 7,8 and 9 saw Joe, Fin and Liam all down by some margin. All three boys never gave up and showed great spirit but none of them were able to gain any points with us still needing a half a point to secure the match.
In match 6 Niall Collins went 4 down to a former Warwickshire player Mat White. Frankly this did not look good and both players were struggling to find a fairway.
Meanwhile in the final match Tom Poole was one up at the turn and it looked like we would need him to hold on to win the match.
However Niall was not to be denied and recovered from 4 down to be all square going down the 18th. Both players managed to find the out of bounds during a nervy final hole but in the end Niall secured a fantastic half and the match.
Tom was still going strong in the final match knowing that his result may be crucial and was 3 up with 4 to play. Although he lost the 15thhe recovered and won his match 3&2 on the 16thgreen. This was a great effort from a young player who rarely loses.
This meant that the singles finished 5-5 and the boys won the match 9-6. A result that sounds more comfortable than it actually was with the team from Staffordshire putting up a tremendous fight in the afternoon.
Having won the friendly at Leicestershire this was a great win in our first league match of the season. Congratulations to all the boys who took part, the team spirit was fantastic.
My sincere thanks go to Penn Golf Club who were terrific hosts and allowed us to play on a course in superb condition.
My thanks also to the team and officials form Staffordshire who always conduct themselves impeccably and are all great company. And finally to Richard Clark for making the journey over in the afternoon to support the boys.
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